[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/nFq9mJx.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/uGddlzt.png[/img] [color=BBC7E1]Time:[/color] Early Evening [color=BBC7E1]Location:[/color] Caesonia Kingdom Ball [color=BBC7E1]Interaction:[/color] Lorenzo[@FunnyGuy] Leo [@Helo] [color=BBC7E1]Mentions:[/color] Mayet[@13org] Nahir[@Rodiak] Mina&Thea[@Tae] Amir [@Omni5876] Layla [@Potter] [color=BBC7E1]Attire:[/color] [url=i.imgur.com/kzux34s.jpg]Click here[/url] [hr][/center] A beautiful woman from the Alidasht, adorned in red and fine jewelry, had been the first to respond to Charlotte. Her words were sweet but the look the girl gave told her everything she needed to know: the real snake was [i]her[/i], not the one around her neck. Despite the familiar narcissism that seemed to come with the package of being royalty, she and the other Alidasht were almost ethereal. If the situation had only been different, she would have been interested to learn about them more. Of course, the feeling was not so mutual as the woman seemed to be threatening to feed her to her snake. Charlotte blinked in surprise. As rude as other nobles could be, no one had ever said anything of such a vicious nature to her before… And that look in her eyes! This woman was a villainess. As always, Charlotte had a number of replies swimming in her brain, but she knew better than to speak aloud any of them. She simply bit her lip and avoided further eye contact. Her stomach rumbled loudly in the brief silence, the sole reply Layla received. She had abstained from food all day in hopes of saving room for a delicious feast. [color=BBC7E1][i]Woops. Forgot I only came here for the food in the first place. [/i][/color] Thankfully, a familiar and very welcome voice joined the fray before the girl could say anything about her stomach rumbling. Leo Smithwood stepped up to the center with that lovely smile of his and addressed everyone. [color=BBC7E1][i]Oh Leo. What are you doing? You need not involve yourself.[/i][/color] If she had already not been drowning in her worry for Lorenzo, now her heart ached to see her dear old friend involve himself in such a mess. Charlotte returned the bow to him nonetheless, managing an honest smile as she replied softly, [color=BBC7E1]” I have all the time in the world for you, Lord Leo Smithwood.”[/color] She took the time to give him a questioning look, worry causing her expression to soften. Leo seemed to have started a trend as others kept voicing their opinion from then on. Prince Wulfric’s words had both surprised and frustrated her. She had not expected him to defend her, but it took a lot of self-control not to blurt out that she had taken the responsibility of her own accord; Lorenzo had not asked anything of her. More children of the Sultan also voiced their opinions. The first was a girl of short stature who was awfully furious and certainly not shy about it. When she moved towards her father with that blade of hers, Charlotte had rushed over to his side in fear she’d strike him. The girl’s sister was at her side when Charlotte got her footing. Fortunately enough, all the angry yet adorable girl wanted was an apology. [color=BBC7E1][i]What a misleading buildup. Has anyone told these people they’re very dramatic?[/i][/color] She knew the whole experience must have been as frightening for Lorenzo as it had been for her so she took her stepfather’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He seemed a little too lost in his head to even notice, unfortunately. Someone had come up asking to tell a story before the next Alidasht offspring had spoken, which struck Charlotte as odd, but she still had wanted to hear the story so she found herself disappointed that he had not been allowed to tell his tale. Meanwhile, the long-haired, handsome son of the Sultan was the voice of reason in all this, becoming Charlotte’s favorite of the children quite quickly as he was merciful and logical with the statements he made, as opposed to the others. Though, at this point, she was hoping all these long monologues would eventually tire out the Sultan and Grand Vizier into just letting this all go at some point. Her heart was racing and she felt drained from the stress she felt. [color=BBC7E1][i]I am going to plead with the Sultan to chop off my head instead if every single person in the room needs to have a say in this. This is absurd. Just let please Lorenzo go already… [/i][/color] The Sultan began to reprimand his children and she thought perhaps he’d give his reply to her offer but that wasn’t the last of the speeches. Charlotte’s expression almost became exasperated as yet the footsteps of someone up approaching to chat. She stared at the ceiling for a moment as if pleading with an invisible force, but the voice that followed was … Mina Blackwood? Her expression changed and she stared with curiosity at her as she spoke. She almost sighed out of relief. All she wanted was to make sure Lorenzo left this room alive. No matter what she agreed to, that was the next problem to try to talk her way out of. Lady Mina lived along with her uncle as far as she knew, so Charlotte could guess the girl must have empathized with her. That was when the Sultan finally addressed Lorenzo in all this, who replied with sobbing and begging that broke Charlotte’s heart. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She knelt by his side and rubbed his back to soothe him, leaning in to whisper to him,[color=BBC7E1]” It’s going to be alright. Don’t give up yet, okay? I will not abandon you…”[/color]Charlotte gave him a hug, firmly telling him, [color=BBC7E1]” I will work to talk ourselves out of this until I am out of breath. ”[/color] She glanced up at the Sultan after a moment, hoping to hear his answer when yet another person started talking to him. [color=BBC7E1][i]Good God.[/i][/color] It was Prince Felix of the Varian Kingdom, accompanied by Lady Thea Smithwood. It was hard not to smile a little at the sight of darling Thea, who had once been one of her favorite people. But oh she looked so sad too… She wished she could pull her into a hug just as she did Lorenzo.